Normal People Preparing for TEOTWAWKI – Our Source of Ultimate Comfort

So last week, I wrote an article called Are TEOTWAWKI and Comfort Incompatible?  In that article, I mentioned that that spiritual comfort is a real aspect of comfort during an end of the world scenario.  The truth is, spiritual comfort is probably the most real aspect of comfort any time, but especially during TEOTWAWKI.

Before I jump into the meat of this post though, I want to say now, if you are just reading this with the intent of picking this post apart, ridiculing my faith, or demeaning Christianity, I’m going to kindly suggest that you just pass over this post.  The comments for this post will be moderated.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming…..

When I think of comfort as a Christian, I remember something my husband had our family going through once a week for a year.  It was called the Heidelberg Catechism.  The first question is this:

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

Wow.  The first time that I hear that question – the fact that someone cared about my comfort both now AND in death.  If we ever live through a situation which makes us believe that we’re living during the end of the world as we know it, that is when we need eternal comfort most.

So what’s the answer to the question, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”  The answer begins this way – “That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.”

That is the question that I want to ask you today is, “Is Jesus Christ your faithful Savior?”  After all that is where your ultimate comfort – spiritual comfort – both in life and in death comes from.   Today, I want to walk you through what it means for Jesus Christ to be your Savior.  And yes, today, I’m going to get into the Bible.

Why do you need a Savior?

Seriously.  Why do any of us need a Savior?  Most of us are ‘decent’ anyway, right? Some of you reading this may think, “Hey, I’m pretty good.  I’ve never murdered.  I don’t steal.  I don’t cheat.  I don’t lie…..well, not often.”  Unfortunately, it doesn’t even matter what we do because when Adam and Eve sinned, they condemned us all to hell by creating in us a nature that cannot choose God.

Nope.  You aren’t good.

Romans 3:10-12 says, “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.

None of us can seek God because our nature is one bent toward ourselves.

Because we can’t do good and we can’t seek God, we sin.  Romans 3:23 says – “For all have sinned.”  I’ve sinned.  You’ve sinned.  Even Mother Theresa sinned.  But I want you to realize it’s not the sin that sends you to hell.  It’s that wicked nature that we all have which causes us to sin.  The sinful nature elevates your desires over God’s desires and creates sin in your heart.

Unfortunately, the news gets worse before it gets better.

All sinners deserve death in hell – the opposite of spiritual comfort.

I can hear some of you now.  Karen, this isn’t very comforting.  Nope not yet, but hang with me a bit!

Romans 6:23a says, “For the wages of sin is death.”

When the Bible talks about death it isn’t just saying that someday we will die.  It is referring to spiritual death.  God told Adam and Eve that in the day that they ate of the forbidden fruit, they would die.  They didn’t die physically that day (though the slow process of physical death started that day), but that day they did die spiritually.

Our nature causes us to sin, and because we sin, our wages are spiritual death.

Not comforting yet, huh?  Nope, but we’re getting there.  The second half of the verse turns the tide!

BUT the gift of God is eternal life – Talk about spiritual comfort!

Romans 6:23b says, “But the gift of God is eternal life.”  He doesn’t leave us dead in our sin nature.  Christ gives us a new nature – one that CAN choose to do right.  He makes a way for us.  God gives the gift of eternal life! Why?  He gives us the gift because He loves His people, and He wants us to fellowship with Him forever.

But to whom does He give the gift?

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Now that, my friends is good news and comfort!  You couldn’t live a perfect life because you have a sinful nature, so Jesus (who didn’t have a sinful nature) came to this world to live a perfect life FOR YOU!  No one could live that perfect life, so he lived it for all His people.

But He didn’t just live for you.  After He lived the perfect life you couldn’t, He died on the cross in YOUR place to change your wicked nature – sometimes called “the old man” in scripture.  You should have died there, but instead, he took your place on the cross after He lived a sinless life.  He did what you couldn’t do for you because of His love for His people!  BUT another amazing thing is that because He lived that sinless life, He didn’t stay dead!  God raised him from the dead.

How do you know that you are one of His People?

The answer to that is in Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.”

So what is required for salvation – our ultimate spiritual comfort?

According to Romans 10:9-10, we must confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus.  Confess to others that He is your Savior.  This isn’t a private thing.  You can’t keep it to yourself. This is something very public.

Then after you confess, Romans 10:9 says that you must believe that God raised him from the dead.

Why does God save His people?

Sometimes, I think when people talk about becoming a Christian they stop a little too short.  What does God require of us once we are a part of His people?  He tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Paul reminds us that salvation is a gift that we didn’t earn, but then Paul takes it further in the next verse and tells you what He wants you to do with your new-found salvation.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  These works don’t save you, but if you are saved, you will do good works which God prepared for you to walk in.

So what does the whole of Heidelberg Catechism question #1 say about comfort?

“What is your only comfort in life and death?

That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.  He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.

He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.

Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.”

Now that, my friends, is true comfort.

I’ve put together two pages which are filled with comforting Bible verses if you’re interested in picking them up.  Sign up for my newsletter in the right sidebar, and you’ll find it in our Printable Library.

What About You?

How important is spiritual comfort to you?  If it is, how and why is it important to you?  Did this article stir something in you and you want to know more?  Leave a comment below and let me know.  ***One important note about comments today***  I will NOT approve unkind, demeaning, or derogatory comments.  If somehow they get posted (because if you have posted before and I approved THAT comment, it auto approves your comments) and I become aware of it, they will be removed.  You don’t have to agree with me, but you need to be kind.